Nice cocktails begin with nice tales, and the Higher with Black Label Cocktail Competitors challenged high bartenders to deliver each to life. Throughout eight cities, rivals had been invited to push the boundaries of what a Johnnie Walker Black Label cocktail will be by creating an authentic cocktail that showcased the flexibility of the long-lasting 12-year-old blended Scotch by way of creative flavors, strategies, and cocktail kinds.
The competitors prolonged past the glass. Rooted in Johnnie Walker’s “Preserve Strolling” ethos, which celebrates private journeys of progress, rivals had been tasked to share the story behind their cocktail and the way it mirrored their private progress journey that formed their craft. A panel of 21 business leaders, together with Adam Fournier, a Los Angeles-based bar director and former World Class U.S. winner; Kyler Nolan, bar supervisor at Demise & Co. New York; and Calvin Marty, proprietor of Greatest Intentions in Chicago, chosen winners in every metropolis primarily based not solely on the originality and high quality of their cocktails, but additionally on the tales they informed. Each competitor obtained assist from Johnnie Walker Ambassadors all through this system, whereas 9 winners earned a one-on-one mentorship expertise with Johnnie Walker Grasp Blender Dr. Emma Walker.
With out additional ado, let’s increase a glass to this yr’s winners.
Tia Downey is a famend bartender at Bowie Home in Fort Price, Texas. She was awarded Greatest Bartender/Mixologist in Fort Price, TX by Fort Price Journal in 2021.
Profitable Recipe: Midnight Mesa
1 ounce Johnnie Walker Black Label
1 ounce cacao liqueur, similar to Tempus Fugit Cacao
1 ounce pistachio syrup
1 contemporary double espresso
Add all elements to a shaker and shake with ice.
High-quality pressure right into a Martini glass, then garnish with crushed pistachios.
Gordon J. Bellaver has labored in hospitality for over 25 years. He has bartended at iconic Los Angles bars like The Varnish and Thunderbolt and now works on the Michelin-starred restaurant Kato. He’s additionally a co-owner of Penny Pound Ice.
Profitable recipe: Espresso Stroll
2 ounces Johnnie Walker Black Label
3/4 ounce espresso liqueur, similar to Mr. Black
1/2 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce brown sugar syrup
2 1/2 ounces pineapple inexperienced tea (see under)
3 ounces coconut milk
6 drops saline answer
In a container, mix Johnnie Walker Black Label, espresso liqueur and saline answer.
In a separate container, mix brown sugar syrup, pineapple inexperienced tea and coconut milk.
Slowly add lemon juice to the milk/sugar/tea batch, pouring alongside the partitions of the container to attenuate agitation.
Slowly add whiskey and occasional liqueur combine to the batch.
Cowl and let sit for not less than 4 (and as much as 12) hours.
Place a slotted lodge pan atop a typical lodge pan and line it with a cheese fabric.
Slowly pour the combo and let the cocktail drip.
Serve over a single massive ice dice.
Pineapple Inexperienced Tea
Steep 30 grams of tropical inexperienced tea in 450 milliliters of boiling water for five minutes, then pressure and weigh. Mix the tea with equal elements, by weight, of Good Puree Caramelized Pineapple.
Jordan Milano began out on this enterprise working for his mom and presently works at Caveau in Boston. “10 years after my first shift, bartending has unlocked doorways and brought me locations I solely dreamed of going,” he says.
Profitable recipe: Resolve
1 1/2 ounces Johnnie Walker Black
3/4 ounce Charred Pineapple Drambuie (see Editor’s Be aware)
1/2 ounce Kiwi Dolin Blanco (see under)
3 dashes rhubarb bitters
2 ounces soda water
Kiwi Strawberry Coconut Foam (see under), to high
Add the primary 4 elements to a shaker and shake with ice.
Pressure right into a glass, then high with soda water and foam.
Charred Pineapple Drambuie
1 cup Drambuie
2 cups charred pineapple
Mix all elements and place within the freezer in a single day. Take away from the freezer and produce to room temperature earlier than straining the pineapple out.
Kiwi Dolin Blanc
Mix 1 cup Dolin Blanc with 1 chopped kiwi in a container, then place within the freezer in a single day. Take away from the freezer, then deliver to room temperature earlier than straining the kiwi out.
Kiwi Strawberry Coconut Foam
Add half of a kiwi, 1/4 cup dried strawberries, 1/4 cup toasted coconut chips, 3 ounces maple syrup and 1 cup of heavy cream to a blender and mix till integrated. Pressure the combination by way of a sieve. Add right into a whipped cream cost and whip. Chill it within the fridge till able to serve.
Hannah Spear is a bartender on the Chicago bar Bisous. She describes bartending as a “puzzle,” working to make service environment friendly and arranged.
Profitable Recipe: In Bloom
1 1/2 ounces Johnnie Walker Black
1 ounce cranberry juice
1/2 ounces Apologue Aronia
¼ oz Liber & Co gum syrup
2 dashes Angostura
1 1/2 ounces water
Mix all elements and pressure carbonate to serve.
Gonzalo Ramos is a bartender and beverage guide presently behind the bar at The Portrait Bar on the Fifth Avenue Lodge. He has greater than 10 years of hospitality expertise, and in 2026, he was named a Prime 15 finalist in World Class US.
Profitable recipe: I See John
1 orange Wedge
1 grapefruit Wedge
2 blackberries
1/2 ounce Demerara syrup (2:1)
3/4 ounce lemon juice
2 ounces Johnnie Walker Black Label
Garnish: half orange wheels, blackberry, mint Bbuquet
Muddle the fruit, syrup and lemon juice in a rocks glass.
Add the Johnnie Walker Black Label, then fill the glass midway with pebble ice
and stir briefly to include.
Prime with pebble ice, forming a dome above the rim, and garnish.
Kai Lucas is a bartender at The Nook Retailer and The Eighty Six in New York. He has secured certifications from BAR 5-Day and the Cocktail Apprentice Program and pays that cocktail schooling ahead by contributing to native business initiatives.
Profitable Recipe: DragonBall J
1 1/2 ounce Johnnie Walker Black Label
1/2 ounce Inexperienced Cordial (see under)
Garnish: dragonfruit ball
Stir all elements collectively, then pressure carbonate.
Serve in a highball glass over ice, then garnish.
Methodology: Stir and Pressure Carb
Inexperienced Cordial
Mix inexperienced apple, thyme, kiwi, 2 ounces white dragonfruit juice, 2 dashes coconut water saline answer (1:10, salt to coconut water, by weight.
